1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of hyperlinks and computer applications utilizing hyperlinks, and more specifically, relates to software that enhances hyperlinks.
2. Description of the Related Art
The Internet is a fast growing and important communication medium. One integral and familiar aspect of utilizing the Internet is an application called a “browser”. This application, by translating HTML and other related programming code into text and graphics, allows virtually anyone interested in using the Internet to use this amazing tool easily and simply. One of the most used and familiar aspects of Internet browsers is the “hyperlink”. A hyperlink is simply a string of text or a computer graphic that a user can “click” with the mouse pointer, which will immediately load a new browser page that the hyperlink is programmed to present to the user. Without hyperlinks, the Internet could not be utilized by users with the ease, simplicity and speed that it is today. Hyperlinks are an inextricable part of the Internet browsing experience, and will be for the foreseeable future.
One of the ways that hyperlinks are used is in the form of “advertising banners” for Internet web sites. Hyperlinks are attached to graphical advertisements on virtually all commercial web sites. The world wide web and banner ads have been intrinsic to the success of each other. Banners are the economic fuel that runs the massive Internet engine. Without banners, the Internet could not afford to function in it's current form. There are virtually no successful web sites that don't run banner advertisements as a way to finance their business. Probably no other on-screen element is more prevalent on the Internet as the old stand-by, the banner ad.
As a result of the utilization and success of the hyperlink on the Internet, the hyperlink has become a common navigation tool “off line” as well. Hyperlinks are utilized to navigate through electronic documents and files of all kinds. For example, interactive games, electronic and/or CD-ROM based encyclopedias, and corporate documents just to name a few.
As successful as the hyperlink concept has been, there still are problems. As of today, hyperlinks still only do one thing; if you click on them, they move you to a new location. This is often a problem. Because of the vast complexity of the Internet and/or electronic documents and files, giving users the constant ability to follow hyperlinks from one page to another (while giving users great benefit) often results in users losing their train of thought and getting lost in the billions of possible pages, documents, and/or files available, reducing their ability to extract the information they are looking for. For example, lets say a user has delved deeply into a web site about automobiles. Usually, each page is filled with hyperlinks offering the user other places to go related to cars, some within the current web site, some that will take the user to other related web sites. Now the user is faced with a decision. Which hyperlink to chose? It's important, because if he selects one that eventually takes him to a place he really wasn't interested in going, it's often difficult to get back to the original page from which he left. While there are some ways to minimize this problem using modern browsers, there is no easy way to prevent the users from losing their train of thought or simply “getting lost” while clicking hyperlinks. This also translates to a waste of time (and money for commercial users) and energy for users, and an often inefficient method of browsing the web.
Anyone that has followed the evolution of the Internet over the last five years knows that the Internet of 1996 bears little resemblance to the Internet of the year 2000. Today's Internet is bolder, more graphical, faster and largely multimedia based. But what about the hyperlink and related banner ad? Incredibly, the hyperlink of 1996 is pretty much the same one we are looking at here in the year 2000. Hyperlinks have not really changed with the times. Why? There are many reasons, but it certainly isn't because they are such a successful formula. Even today, with advertisers spending over $2 billion in 1999 on hyperlink banner ads, the “click-through” rates for banner ads is a lowly 1%. With this kind of performance, there is a need for an improved hyperlink that provides the user with the ability to do more with a hyperlink than click to move to a new page.